Allen Craig hit .307/.354/.522 with 22 homers and 92 RBI in 119 games last season and was expected to do big things from start to finish here in 2013. He had a sluggish April, but the talented Cardinals first baseman is quickly beginning to heat up.

Craig slugged his first home run of the season in the Cardinals’ 7-6 victory over the Brewers Saturday in Milwaukee and is hitting .412/.444/.588 in 18 plate appearances since the calendar flipped to May.

Craig — a .365/.424/.619 career batter with runners in scoring position — boasts 21 RBI in 28 games this year as the Cardinals’ primary cleanup man.

Even through last month’s struggles, he continued to perform well in the clutch.

The 28-year-old scored a five-year, $31 million contract extension from the St. Louis front office this spring. If everything continues to go smoothly, “Wrench” will be wearing the birds on the bat through the 2018 season.

This is a surprisingly good Cardinal team. One only has to look at their starting pitching and team ERA to see why. I wasn’t convinced about Craig, thought he might have had his “career year” last season but I’m slowly coming around to believing he’s going to be a Cqardinal mainstay at 1B for the foreseeable future.